The Pivot Gun

Date:

2002

Medium:

Oil on wood

Dimensions:

11 ¾ x 28 inches

Credit Line:

Collection of Lysiane Luong Grooms and the artist

The cannon is the focus of this close view of Union gunboat USS Wissahickon, but Grooms revels in the features of the determined faces of the sailors on deck. Her crew helped capture New Orleans, traveled up the Mississippi to Vicksburg, and patrolled the coast of South Carolina. Seaworthy ships like the Wissahickon were versatile in the Civil War because their shallow draft allowed them to work close to the shoreline and navigate rivers.